Afghanistan is a strong team in T20 format. The players of Afghanistan squad perform regularly in various franchise leagues throughout the year. So I did not think that Afghanistan would lose in T20 format against a team like Zimbabwe. But in the end, we saw Afghanistan's defeat in the first match of the series.
Afghanistan's batsmen could not play well in this match. Afghanistan gave a target of 145 runs today. It was not enough for victory. Moreover, due to the responsible batting of Brian Bennett and Myers, it became easier for Zimbabwe to win the match.
It is really hard to accept that Afghanistan has lost a T20 match against Zimbabwe. I would not have been surprised if it was an ODI or Test match. We know that Afghanistan is very strong in T20 format. We often see Afghan players playing well in various franchise leagues. Afghan players are capable of batting at a smart strike rate in T20 format.
In today's match, both Afghanistan openers could not start well. Rahmanullah Gurbaz could not add any runs to the scoreboard. Sadequllah could only collect 3 runs. Karim Janat played an innings of 54 runs but his batting was very slow. However, Mohammad Nabi played a crucial innings of 54 runs off 27 balls. Due to this, Afghanistan was able to give a target of 144 runs.
It is very difficult to win by giving a target of 144 runs. Even then, Afghanistan tried their best to win the match. There is no doubt about it that the match was very competitive.